The new and improved rewrite of the story with the same title. A huge amount of pressure from Konoha's villagers forces the Hokage to do the unthinkable. Naruto is sentenced to exile and is raised in Kirigakure, without any knowledge of where he was born.

Disclaimer:
If I said that I was Kishimoto, and that I owned Naruto, and that I
am a sexy beast, I would be telling two lies. It is up to you to
figure out which two the lies are.

The
Great Beansmoker has returned, humble and modest as ever! I AM the
greatest writer with my user name! And I have prepared a new chapter
at the urging of my readers. Every one of your reviews has motivated
me somewhat, but the latest review that I got was the straw that
broke the camel's back. I apologize for letting the story stagnate
for so long, but I will try to get it going again. Perhaps the return
of more familiar characters from Naruto will appease you? Read more
to find out what I mean…

Without
Uzumaki Ch. 10:

The
Consequence of Failure

"Kid,
I admire your spunk. But it's over."

The
stench of dried-blood was heavy in the air. This place had no
windows, so the group could do nothing about the smell but endure it.
The unfortunate fact was that this smell was emanating from the
members of Zabuza's team themselves, as they hid in a literal hole
in the ground. This was Zabuza's furthest base from Kirikagure, dug
especially for the (once believed) less-than-likely event that his
attack would fail. The base was so far away that the likelihood of
hunter-nin stumbling across it was slim. However, given the nature of
the tracking jutsu available to Kiri's hunter-nin, it wasn't
likely that they'd be stumbling across anyone, anyways. If those
hunter-nin got even remotely close to the group's current location,
they would locate them in an instant, and even with their very
reduced number there would be enough hunters to take out every one of
Zabuza's remaining men at once.

Zabuza's
group tried their best to make as little noise as possible, since
trackers would be able to find them from further away if they aimed a
chakra-enhanced ear in their general direction while they were making
noise. It didn't matter how quiet they were, however, since the
smell would give them away if a hunter got close enough.

Naruto
and Zabuza were talking in harsh whispers at the moment, their
emotions magnified by how dire the situation was.

"I
nearly killed
his number one subordinate; we can still beat him Zabuza-sensei!"
Naruto's conviction could be seen clearly on his face, and his firm
belief in what he was saying was conveyed even through his hushed
tone. "The Mizukage is nothing! He got lucky! We had him on the
ropes! Let's go back there and kick his ass!"

Zabuza
chuckled quietly. "I'll admit you did a number on his punk
assistant. But the fact of the matter is, we're dead if we try a
second attack on that village in the condition we're in. And by the
time we've recovered." Zabuza's expression hardened. "That
bastard'll be back at full strength again, with a whole new army.
We might as well slit our own throats if we even consider a round
two. Its over." Zabuza motioned at the injured; Haku, Kaede, the
Demon Brothers, they were all drained of chakra, and Kaede was
riddled with gashes. "We'll wait for them to recover, and then
we're running. It might suck a little since we can't go back to
Kiri, but don't worry, there's a lot of work for missing-nin out
there. Assassinating for hire is a real blast, I hear." Zabuza
turned and moved to the only other room in the "hole". On the way
he turned back, "Get some rest, Naruto, you're gonna need it."

Defeated,
Naruto moved back over to his cot, and eyed the Kaguya girl that had
somehow ended up in their group. Many of Zabuza's points were dead
on. For one thing, it was definitely true that if this girl, who
couldn't be older than Naruto, hadn't intervened, they would all
be dead or in the Mizukage's clutches by now. Naruto smirked, 'She
brought us all here on a bone sled, and she remembered directions
that Zabuza told her only once. She might be a decent ninja, after
all.' Something in Naruto made him feel that Zabuza's ragtag
group could prevail over the Mizukage if given the chance, but there
was the question of 'How many of us will fall the next time, with
so many already dead?' Naruto sighed and sat on his bed, he decided
he would catch some z's after all.

Before
he slept, Naruto eyed his sword, which had undergone a complete
metamorphosis since he last used it. It was blue now, and shared many
features with undersea life, including a scale covered handle,
slightly translucent blade, and the fact that it was now hollow.
Naruto still did not understand why it transformed, but before he
could consider this further, a familiar voice interrupted his
thoughts.

"Can't
believe that such a loser is the one who is mentoring my host…"
Naruto heard the Kyuubi mumbling in the back of his mind. He had
essentially agreed to let the beast talk to him whenever it felt like
in exchange for power, a decision he was quickly regretting. "Tell
me, kit. Was Zabuza born without balls, or did the Mizukage rip them
off in their fight?"

Naruto
became instantly enraged. "SHUT THE HELL UP YOU GODDAMN FOX! YOU
DON'T KNOW ANYTHING!"

Just
like that, Haku snapped to life. "Damnit Naruto, could you be
louder. I'm in enough pain as it is."

Naruto
forgot about the fox in an instant. "Haku, you're ali-!" He
caught himself mid sentence. "I mean, nice job being conscious when
we needed you. Next time don't have me covering for your ass when
you drop to the ground like a shitty boxer."

"Oh,
yeah." Naruto mumbled. "Thanks for that. Anyways, how are you
holding up, you think you will be mobile soon, cus it looks like
we're going to have to start running soon."

"What?"
Haku said, startled. "From who?"

Zabuza
reentered the room, his eyes scowling. He whispered, "I thought I
told you to stay quiet Naruto. Make any more noise and I'll be
removing that noisy throat of yours."

"What's
going on? Who are we running from, and why are we in hiding?" Haku
spoke quietly, more from his injuries than conscious effort.

And
thusly, Naruto and Zabuza began the extremely long process of
explaining the current situation to Haku…

"Zabuza-sensei."
Haku said, absorbing all of the information that he was just told. "I
can see why we must go on the run as soon as we're all recovered,
but there is one thing that you want to do that I can not allow."
He stopped briefly, finding the right words to explain what he meant.
"Zabuza-sensei, you must not give up on slaying the Mizukage. You
made a vow, and you can't-"

"Can't
what? Break it?" Zabuza sighed. "I just finished explaining this
to that other runt. We haven't got a chance in the world. If you
wanna see the Mizukage's head roll, you chop it off yourself."

Haku's
eyes lowered and then rose with newfound determination. "Very well.
When I recover, I will attack the Mizukage myself."

Naruto
and Zabuza reacted in unison. "What?"

"Zabuza-sensei,
your men sacrificed their lives for your cause, to see the Mizukage
die by your hands. They all knew that you might fail, but died
anyways, assuring themselves that if nothing else, you would not give
up! One way or another, I will not let their sacrifice be in vain,
even if it means challenging the Mizukage all by myself."

These
words inspired Naruto and he stood up. "Yeah, and I'm right with
you, Haku. With you their to absorb all of the Mizukage's blows for
me, killing him will be no problem."

Cue
Naruto-style, long speech about the importance of never giving up,
and what-not.

The
strength of the boys' words amazed Zabuza, as well as their wisdom
that appeared beyond their years. He stood silently once the speech
was over, thinking to himself. Finally, he spoke, "Alright kids,
you win. Can't let the two of you go off facing that animal by
yourselves. However, this does not mean I am going to go committing
suicide as soon as you all recover."

"Then
when are we gonna finish the job?" Naruto said.

Zabuza
smirked, although it was invisible beneath his mummy mask. "Before
we do anything, we are going to need a lot of money…"

It
was a few weeks later before the group was recovered enough to set
out, although Shimizu Kaede was still unconscious and needed to be
carried. The group first moved out of Water Country, to a village in
the adjacent Land of the Waves. Zabuza got them all lodging in a hut
in the trees, and it was here that they all met Gato…

"So,
Zabuza-san. These are the ninja that you are offering me."

Zabuza
had everyone lined up, except for Kaede, who was stored in a nearby
bed room and Mao, who was watching over her. Gato analyzed each one,
one-by-one. He nodded as he passed each of the Demon Brothers and
Haku, but stopped once he got to Naruto.

"What
is the meaning of you bringing this little runt?" Gato growled.

Naruto
bared his own fangs. "Hey, Old Fart! Who you calling a 'runt'?
I could kick your ass up and down this hut! And I'd be happy to do
it!"

"Cool
it kid." Zabuza said. He turned to Gato. "You know that I only
use the highest quality of ninja. If you doubt the quality of my
subordinates, why don't you give him a chance to prove himself?
I'll even have him work for you, free of charge, but only once."

Gato
smiled. "That's a deal that I'd be a fool to pass up…" He
backed up from Naruto "Alright then, runt.
I'll let you handle some business for me then. There's a person
that I need dead, in a week. You can take one of your friends with
you, just one, and handle it. If you succeed I'll let you stay here
for as long as you need, but if you fail…" He chuckled. "Don't
fail."

"There
he is Naruto-san." It was Gozu, one of the Demon Brothers, and the
person Naruto took with him. "Gato's ninja are watching, so you
should deal the fatal blow."

Naruto
smirked. "So that's the bridge builder who's been pissing in
Gato's cereal, Kaiza." Naruto drew out his sword. "This is
hardly the job for a ninja as strong as me, but I guess it's as the
saying goes…" He aimed his sword at Kaiza. "A ninja's gotta
do what he gotta do."